Canada's communications watchdog, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), has decided to tighten up the rules for the country's telcos and mobile operators that own TV content and a network to distribute it to consumers.

Under the new rules, the CRTC decision limits how "vertically integrated" companies such as cable operators and telcos like Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE), which acquired broadcaster CTV this year, would use their ownership of content to gain an advantage over their respective competitors.

This means that no integrated video provider like Bell or Shaw Communications (NYSE: SJR) will be allowed to offer content exclusively to their own subscriber base.

And while broadcasters can still offer exclusive content on TV, they'll have to make it available to competitors at reasonable rates if they extend it to another service provider's wireline or wireless network.